Man, mother-in-law held on charge of killing bride

The mystery behind the death of a 21-year-old woman, Vidya, at the Government Medical College Hospital, Alappuzha, on September 4, 2009, four days after her wedding, has been solved by the Kollam Crime Branch CID with the arrest of her husband, T. Santosh Kumar, and his mother, Vijayamma, on the charges of murdering her.

Deputy Superintendent of Police C.G. Suresh Kumar who arrested the two on Wednesday said scientific evidence pointed to Vidya being murdered. Expert medical opinion was that Vidya was brutally assaulted by Santosh and Vijayamma when she failed to meet their dowry demands.

The gold ornaments given to her by her parents for the wedding were seized by the Crime Branch officers on Wednesday from a locker in a cooperative bank at Karunagapally at the instance of Santosh and Vijayamma, Mr. Suresh Kumar said. The ornaments were allegedly removed when Vidya was taken to hospital in a critical condition and replaced with ‘imitation’ gold ornaments.

Vidya from Oachira had married Santosh of Karunagapally on August 30, 2009. On September 3 evening, she was taken by Santosh and Vijayamma to the Karunagapally taluk hospital in a critical condition. From there, she was referred to the Government Hospital, Kayamkulam, and then to the Alappuzha medical college the same day.

Following Vidya’s death, the Karunagapally police registered a case and started investigation. Her parents and relatives, backed by a couple of organisations, had right from the beginning alleged that it was a murder.

On this count, the funeral was also held up for several days.

Vidya was the only child of her parents.

The case, which was investigated by the local police for two years, was handed over to the Crime Branch in August 2011.

Mr. Suresh Kumar said the post-mortem examination report stated that Vidya had four contusions, and bleeding of the liver was the cause of death. This report was the basis of the Crime Branch investigation.

As part of the investigation, a team of doctors from the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, came to the conclusion that the contusions Vidya had sustained were inflicted a day or two before her death.

This, no doubt, had taken place at her husband’s house, the Crime Branch concluded, Mr. Suresh Kumar said.